Readiness and Revenge
by lalalei
Summary: Just because you're ready for the boss of Team Rocket doesn't mean you're ready for his guards. Oneshot based on an incident in a Nuzlocke of Pokemon Blue. Originally posted in 2014; now revised and updated!


Silph Co. was easily the toughest challenge Red had faced so far. It was obvious Giovanni wasn't cutting any corners with this operation, and neither were his underlings. Red had learned that the hard way when the second Rocket he'd encountered defeated and killed the Butterfree that had been with him since Viridian Forest, murdering one of his closest companions in the time it took to blink.

Red had defeated the rest of the man's Pokemon, starting with the Golbat that did the deed, but the loss cut into him deeply. He knew that if he was going to survive this with his team and emotional well-being intact, he would have to be stronger than Team Rocket. That meant training—and a memorial to his fallen friend. Red vowed that as soon as Team Rocket was cleared out of Saffron, he would head back to Lavender Town for a service. He owed Butterfree that much.

Red withdrew his Pidgeotto to fill the empty spot on his team, healed, and stormed back into the building. He was eager for payback, to give these men what they deserved for killing Pokemon and using the ones they let live as tools. To disband their organization and plans entirely. Most of all, pulsing through him as surely as he breathed, was the desire for revenge.

Red soon found out that wanting revenge and getting it were two separate things.

* * *

Eight floors. Eight floors of fighting Rockets and turncoat scientists. Red's team was exhausted, and so was he, but everyone was alive. There were some close calls—he'd had to use two Escape Ropes due to poison affecting his Charizard and Clefairy, and had wandered around lost until he'd found the Card Key, leaving him open to ambushes. He had even run into Blue, who'd nearly defeated his Pidgeotto and Haunter before Red had rallied and taken out his team.

But it had been worth it. Red had overcome those challenges and stayed strong. He'd healed his Pokemon thanks to a nurse on the ninth floor of the building, and he'd found the correct warp tile leading to the Silph President's office despite the myriad of traps in his way. And soon, Red knew, he'd defeat Team Rocket's leader a second time. He was ready for him.

Red strode down the hallway, turned a corner, and flinched at the crack of a whip inches from his face.

"Stop _right_ there! Don't you move," cried a Rocket standing guard in front of a door. The man looked ready to attack Red himself if need be; the boy instantly backed away and readied a Poke Ball.

His opponent scowled. "What's a kid like you doing here? Cubone, take care of this," he said, releasing the Ground-type Pokemon with a crack of his whip. Red was initially stunned at the audacity it would take to carry a Cubone after what the Rockets had done at Lavender, but his gaze soon hardened. He was fighting for Pokemon like Cubone in the end, even if it meant he'd have to defeat the one the Rockets had captured.

"This _kid_ is going to defeat you, then your boss, and bring down your operation. I already did it at Celadon," Red said confidently, fixing a grin not unlike Blue's. He threw his Poke Ball. "Go! Pidgeotto!"

In a flash of light, Red's Pidgeotto appeared. It glared at the Rocket member, but its gaze softened upon seeing the Cubone—at least until it readied its club.

"Cubone," the Rocket began, "use—"

"Use Quick Attack," Red cried; his Pokemon obeyed and rushed forward in an instant, tackling its target as quickly as it could. The Cubone staggered from the hit. The Rocket's frown deepened, his hand tightening around the handle of his whip.

"Cubone. Headbutt," he said; the Pokemon glanced back at him fearfully before obeying, striking Red's Pidgeotto with its skull-capped head. The bird Pokemon stumbled back from the blow, but was still relatively healthy. Red knew it could take a few more hits, but the Cubone was swaying on its feet.

"Pidgeotto, go for Wing Attack!" Pidgeotto nodded and smacked the Cubone with both of its wings at full force; it was a critical hit. The Rocket's Pokemon fell back and didn't get up. It had fainted.

"That _useless_—alright. No more games, kid," the Rocket growled. At the same time as Red recalled Pidgeotto, he recalled his fainted Cubone and threw out another Pokemon. It was a Drowzee. It grinned at Red, waving its hands as if to hypnotize him; Red blinked and averted his gaze, focusing on his own Pokemon.

Red had chosen Clefairy, a personal favorite of his. She had been rescued from the Rocket Game Corner for 500 coins, and earning her friendship was worth the amount of money it had taken to free her. Red had had taught her several moves with TMs, and while Red wasn't sure if she was ready to evolve just yet, he knew she was a good battler—and, he hoped, one of his close friends.

"Okay, Clefairy," Red said. "Use Ice Beam!"

Clefairy wiggled her fingers and a jet of ice shot out of her hand, striking the Drowzee. It shivered and shook off the attack, looking relatively healthy—though Red calculated a few more Ice Beams would finish it.

Despite the seeming disadvantage, the Rocket grinned.

"Drowzee. Use Confuse Ray."

The room seemed to darken as a ball of light formed in the Drowzee's hands and drifted towards Red's Clefairy, fading as it struck her. When the light faded completely, Clefairy's eyes were blank and glassy.

Red was taken aback, but only momentarily. "Clefairy, try Ice Beam again!"

Clefairy struggled to focus on her target and ended up clawing at herself in confusion, ice creeping across her body; Red gasped and moved to help her. Clefairy soon registered her own pain and stopped, but was unable to attack her opponent— and the Rocket saw his opportunity to strike.

"Drowzee, Confusion!"

Psychic waves emanated from Drowzee's hands and struck Clefairy; she stumbled back, but while she was weaker than before, she didn't seem in immediate danger. If all that Drowzee knew was Confusion, Red knew Clefairy would be alright even if she ended up attacking herself again.

"Don't give up, Clefairy," Red called. "Use Pound!"

The fairy Pokemon listened, squinted, then drew back a tiny fist and hit the Drowzee hard on its nose, sending it flying back with more force than one would expect from such a tiny Pokemon. The Drowzee seemed much weaker than before, but still stood.

Whatever happened next could end the battle.

Red eyed his opponent. "Your move."

The Rocket stepped forward and cracked his whip, pointing at Red and his Pokemon. A sneer lined his face.

"Kill it, Drowzee. Psychic."

By the time Red registered the man's words it was too late. He could only stare as a much larger wave of energy tore into Clefairy, distorting the space around her and burrowing into her mind. Drowzee clenched a fist, and in another second it was over.

Clefairy fell to the cold floor and didn't move.

The boy saw red.

Adrenaline and fury drowning logical thought, he sent out his Haunter and commanded it to use Night Shade; Red watched as ghostly energies slowly drained Drowzee's health. In the back of his mind, he knew Poison was weak to Psychic—but he was sure the Drowzee was weak enough that it wouldn't matter.

Red was wrong.

Drowzee withered from the attack, fell...and shakily got up. Its eyes glimmered with malice.

The Rocket laughed. "Pokemon are only as good as their trainers, kid. Drowzee, kill this one too. Confusion."

At his words Haunter braced itself for the impact, but it wasn't enough. The psychic waves slashed at Haunter, stretching and tearing it apart, dispersing its remnants into the air. Nothing remained except a faint wisp, and soon those faded as well.

In the silence that followed the battle, Red was dimly aware he had sent out his Persian to finish the Drowzee off, as well as the Rocket's last Pokemon—a Marowak. Persian had taken care of that too. But while he was proud of his Persian it did little, if nothing, to comfort the growing sickness and guilt inside.

Red knew that he could have prevented the deaths, easily. But he had wanted his Pokemon to be trained equally, and to show these men that any Pokemon could defeat them, even ones they looked down on and had no use for.

He had wanted revenge for one death, and now he had three services to plan.

Awareness of his surroundings came in stages. Red saw that the door behind the Rocket was now open, and the man had disappeared from his sight. He wasn't ready. Maybe he was _never_ ready. He had to go back, regroup, and-

"Now, then, you wanted to see my Boss?"

And then he felt a hard shove forward. Red stumbled through the doorway and came face-to face with Giovanni.

As the man locked eyes with his and readied his Pokemon to attack, Red knew he had never been ready at all.


End file.
